October 15, 2008

October in Review, Part I

Voting in Canada, money in Afghanistan, oily resignations and mad scientists

by Dominion Staff

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

"Police partout, justice nulle part!" the crowd chants during a demonstration calling for an inquiry into the death of 18-year old Fredy Villanueva. Photo: Dru Oja Jay

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The First Brigade of the Third Infantry Division was deployed to patrol the streets in the United States. The military contingent will have access to weapons including tanks and could be called upon to do "crowd control."

About 600 people participated in a march in Montreal North, demanding a transparent public inquiry into the shooting of 19-year-old Fredy Villanueva by Montreal police in August and an end to police brutality and racial profiling. Two of Villanueva's friends were also shot, but survived; all were unarmed at the time. Demonstrators shouted "police partout, justice nulle part," and organisers said that police investigating themselves will not result in "truth and justice" for Villanueva's family. Organizers said police had undertaken a campaign of fear, telling local residents and business owners that the march could turn violent.

A wave of speculation was set off when Democratic Representative Brad Sherman told the House of Representatives that, "The only way they can pass this bill is by creating and sustaining a panic atmosphere... A few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no." He was referring to the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, which was successfully passed on the second try.

The Canadian Pacific Olympic 'Spirit Train' was disrupted in Edmonton, when protesters hung banners opposing the Olympics from a train car, and again north of Toronto, when demonstrators locked themselves down to train tracks near Toronto. "In stark contrast to Canada's cherished reputation as a human rights advocate, our First Nations live in abject poverty; casualties of Canada's apartheid policies, and its refusal to respect Indigenous rights to their own land," said Winnie Small in a statement on behalf of demonstrators in Ontario. No arrests were made in either city, and smaller protests took place in Calgary, Winnipeg and Sudbury.

The financial crisis continued to rock markets around the world. The International Monetary Fund estimated that global losses were close to $1.4 trillion. The US bailed out investment banks to the tune of $850 billion, in what Democrat Denis Kucinich called "the largest single act of class warfare in the modern history of this country." In Canada, finance minister Jim Flaherty announced that the government will buy $25 billion worth of Canadian mortgage-backed securities, while the loonie fell to 84 cents of a US dollar. The TSX posted its best single-day showing in history, skyrocketing nearly 900 points. In Iceland, the government took control of Landsbanki, the country's second largest bank. Richard S. Fuld Jr, the CEO of now bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers, maintained that the $350 million he received in compensation since 2000 was "approporiate."

[CC2.0] KFOR vehicle in Pristina, Kosovo, in 2000. Photo: Michelle Walz Eriksson

Eighty-five well-known Canadian scientists called for an end to the subversion of science in an open letter. Examples of ignoring or politicising science carried out by Harper's Conservatives, according to the scientists, include "muzzling" Environment Canada researchers, firing the head of the Nuclear Safety Commission and not respecting research about Insite, Vancouver's safe injection site for intravenous drug users.

The winners of the 2008 Nobel Prizes were announced. Five prizes are awarded each year: in physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace; a memorial prize is awarded in economics.

Export Development Canada, a Crown corporation that raises and loans private funds to companies, announced an agreement worth up to $1 billion with Banco De Poupanç e Crédito, in Angola. Canadian annual exports to Angola are now over $ 80 million each year, while Angola is now a considerable source of crude oil imports for Canada.

Elections Canada officials confirmed that Northern voters were being turned away from advance polling stations for lack of proper identification. Requirements for identification for people to vote changed in the lead up to the 2008 federal election.

A full moon rose in an election sky as 22 per cent of eligible Canadian voters cast Conservative ballots – enough to elect a Conservative minority government – in the smallest voter turnout in Canada's history. Students, First Nations, the elderly and the homeless were turned away from polls because of lack of sufficient identification.

The Globe and Mail and Chronicle Herald reported on their front pages that Green Party leader Elizabeth May instructed supporters in the last days of the election campaign to prevent a Harper majority by voting either Liberal or NDP. In a press release the next day, May insisted she did not advise strategic voting. "I do understand how difficult choices can be due to the perverse results of the first-past-the-post voting system. Canada needs an electoral system that accurately represents how Canadians vote. I repeated over and over that I would not advise voters to vote for anyone other than Greens. Attempts to misrepresent my position on this issue are tiring," she said.

Fifteen people were killed in shelling in Mogadishu during fighting between government and rebel forces. An estimated 37,000 people have been displaced because of violence over the past few weeks, bringing the total of internally displaced people in Somalia to 1.1 million.

Details emerged about actions taken to prepare for the 2010 Olympics by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. According to the Vancouver Sun, "police have identified several threats to Olympic security, including anti-globalization, anti-corporate and First Nations activists, as well as international extremist organizations like al-Qaida, which has already singled out the London 2012 Summer Games as a target."

According to a new study, an $8 billion ski resort planned for the 2010 Olympics will devastate the Brohm River, one of the most productive wild steelhead and salmon streams in BC.

Australia's competition watchdog okayed the hostile takeover of mining giant Rio Tinto (which owns Montreal's Alcan) by BHP Billiton. The $114 billion deal still needs to be approved by European regulators.

A Tamil suicide bomber killed 27 people and wounded 80 in an attack against the opposition United National Party in Sri Lanka.

Downstream, a short documentary directed by Leslie Iwerks that documents the illnesses in First Nations communities because of the tar sands, was shortlisted for an Oscar.

Shares in Suncor and other companies operating in the tar sands fell significantly relative to traditional oil producers, as oil prices dropped.

Henry Mogentaler received the Order of Canada, in honour of his campaign for safe and legal abortions for women in Canada.

In Ukraine, President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved parliament after the coalition government collapsed. The dissolution of parliament means that Ukrainians will vote for the third time in three years.

George Bush enacted legislation bringing in the US-India nuclear trade pact, which was signed in 2005. The deal gives India access to US nuclear technology and supplies. It is controversial for a number of reasons, including the fact that India has not signed on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The United Nations Security Council released a new report on Afghanistan, which cited a total of 1,445 conflict-related civilian casualties in the first eight months of 2008, an increase of 39 per cent compared to the same period in 2007. This news comes after UN resolution 1833 was passed to renew the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mandate, now expiring in October 2009.

A report on the total cost of Canada's military deployment to Afghanistan estimated expenditures at upwards of $18 billion, or around $1,500 per Canadian household.

Thirty thousand Mexicans marked the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City by demanding an inquiry into the killings. The Tlatelolco massacre took place 10 days before the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Between 44 and 300 people are estimated to have been killed in the massacre when police and state security opened fire on the pro-democracy crowd on October 3, 1968.

NATO quietly announced that a small team of Canadian troops has returned to Kosovo and rejoin the KFOR, the NATO mission there. The troops will be coordinating the Kosovo Security Forces' equipment donor program.

A popular mobilization of between 7,000 and 12,000 people working from and together with the Indigenous movement in Cauca, Colombia, was repressed by the state. The multi-day minga aimed to "[commemorate] 516 years of resistance, and [consolidate] the 'Commotion of the Peoples' against the current regime of terror, permanently at the service of the greed of transnational capital." Eleven Indigenous activists have been killed over the last three weeks.

Thousands of women were turned away from shelters in Ottawa in the month of September.

The Paraguayan government brought in legislation preventing land sales to foreigners. Government of Paraguay estimates show that 80 per cent of land is in the hands of around 200 families, and many of the country's most fertile lands are in the hands of Europeans and Brazilians.

Peru's minister of energy and mines, Juan Valdivia, resigned after evidence surfaced that high ranking officials in PetroPeru favoured a Norwegian oil company during the concession bidding process. Galo Chiriboga, Ecuador's minister of oil and mining, also resigned. He had overseen the re-negotiation of various oil contracts with foreign companies. There was no reason given for his resignation.

Lula da Silva's Worker's Party (PT) made significant gains in country wide municipal elections in Brazil. The PT now controls four state capitals.

Penguins washed up on tropical Brazilian beaches. It is not known why the flightless birds went astray of their regular haunts in the Southern Cone.

All 115 branches of McDonald's in Venezuela were temporarily shut down due to tax irregularities.

A man in Washington State robbed an armoured car by pretending to be a construction worker, then confused police by hiring several people via Craigslist to dress the same way and mill around the area where the robbery was planned. He reportedly got away by floating down a nearby creek in an innertube.

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